Medical and disposable absorbent products usually include a body-facing covering or lining material formed from a nonwoven fabric. Typical nonwoven fabrics are derived from fibers or filaments which are chemically, hydraulically, thermally or mechanically linked together and made through technologies which are known to the expert such as, for example, "thermobonding", "spunbonding" or "through air bonding". Such fabrics must be comfortable, capable of remaining in contact with internal and external surfaces of the body for prolonged periods without causing itching or allergic reactions and capable of transmitting body fluids to a central absorbent core. In an attempt to provide absorbent articles with covering or lining materials which remain clean and dry during their use, it is conventional to use synthetic fibers such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polyester and the like.
Nonwoven fabric coverings of synthetic fibers of up to 3 denier have been used as coverings for personal disposable absorbent articles. These fabrics, though they possess great softness due to the fine denier of their fibers, tend to retain more liquids than desired due to the small capillary pore size provided by these fine denier fibers. Alternatively, an increase in fiber denier results in a decrease in fluid retention, but the softness of the fabric is decreased. Therefore, the search for an adequate technical solution still persists.